


unspoken words, daylight shining through

by blessed_image



Series: bury a friend: umbrella academy fics [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: ANYWAY stan five, Agender Number Five | The Boy, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Good Sister Allison Hargreeves, Good Sister Vanya Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Nightmares, Non-Binary Five, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, enby five, fuck luther, sorry luther stans, we dont stan him so hes not here, why the fuck isnt that a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 03:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18086453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessed_image/pseuds/blessed_image
Summary: None of the Hargreeves manage to get a full night of sleep every night, but at least the majority know what sleep looks like.





	unspoken words, daylight shining through

It’s a dark night. In both a literal and figurative sense.

 

The lack of light shining through the windows create an eery feeling; all pitch black darkness, no moonlight reaching into the room- grabbing ahold of the gloom, throttling it into daylight.

 

Diego reaches a hand up towards his left eye, rubbing his palm passively in an attempt to make his eyesight heavier. He wants to sleep, but the world won’t let him.

 

There’s nearby shuffling, and a small knock on his door. Blinking slowly for a few seconds, before sitting upright to stare at the passageway in annoyance.

 

“What?” he asks, voice deep from lack of speaking and thick from exhaustion. The doorknob turns, and a silhouette quiety steps into the room- pressing it’s back against the door to close it again.

 

“They’re dreaming again.” It says, and Diego can recognise now that it’s Klaus who had entered the room. He doesn’t answer, just sighs wearily. He doesn’t need to respond, doesn’t need to ask questions or insult Klaus into leaving him alone.

 

It’s an unspoken conversation, meaning already conveyed through eye contact. Knowledge of the situation already shared due to previous late night encounters for the same reoccurring issue.

 

So, Diego turns and presses his feet against the floor- taking silent steps towards the other person in the room. He reaches for the handle of the door, but is stopped by Klaus’ hand around his wrist; a telltale sign there’s something more this time.

 

Klaus looks down at the floor in dismay, before looking back into Diego’s eyes- a soft, but sad shine appears.

 

“It’s bad, Dee.” he whispers, and the grip on his arm loosens. “Really bad.”

 

Furrowing his brow, he nods- shaking off the hand on him to, instead, pull open the door.

 

Unfortunately, he knows where to go. Knows what direction to head in. Knows who, where and what is happening; probably why too.

 

Allison and Vanya are already there. Ben possibly, too. Vanya is stood by the doorway, leaning against it with a skinny finger pressed to her lips- and she looks up to Diego and Klaus, a sorrowful smile painting her features.

 

She tilts her head to point into the room, showing the image of Allison sitting with a small, frail child on a bed. Her hair is tied up into a bun, head laying docile ontop of the child’s- shushing them with sweetened words, coated in honey. Her hand is circling on their back, comforting in her naturally motherly way. Diego sighs again, knocking as soundlessly as he can against the wall next to Vanya’s head.

 

Allison looks up with her eyes, without any movement of her head- to refrain from startling the silent child in her lap.

 

“Are they okay?” he asks, and Klaus is wrapping his arms around Vanya sadly- both expressions subdued.

 

She blinks up at him, before loosening her grip slightly on Five; who makes a small protest via a weak cry.She pulls away slowly but completely, after kissing their forehead and whispering something against their skin.

 

“Dee is here. So is Klaus, and Vanya, and Ben.” She states, smooth. She looks back at the small crowd at the door, mouthing a ‘come in’ at them all. “We’re all here, Five.”

 

They whimper, before lifting their head away from her chest- releasing their arms, previously interlocked at the back of Allison’s neck. Diego curses in his head at the condition of his sibling: the glazed over eyes, the staring straight through and past him, the streaks down their cheeks, the disheveled hair, voilet bags littering under their eyes and the obvious lack of awareness.

 

If they aren’t gone, then they nearly are. Diego breathes heavily through his nose and catches the eye of Vanya as she moves slowly into the room, and she nods.

 

It’s unspoken but they all know what to do.

 

Five watches dimly, no real caution or wariness (which was a typical feature of their personality, which made the lack thereof more scary) as Diego, Vanya and Klaus close in on them.

 

“Dee?” they ask, finally looking at him instead of behind him- reaching an arm out for their brother.

 

“I’m here, Five.” he says, latching onto the hand without much force- resting a knee beside Allison on the bed. Klaus rests a hand upon the girl’s shoulder, whereas Vanya runs her own hand in Five’s hair soothingly. “We’re all here.”

 

And it’s as if a dam breaks, as if a waterfall had just formed out of thin air; as if a boulder had been removed as a barrier, letting the river run wild again. Because, suddenly, Five is weeping all over again- loud sobs, an unoccupied hand reaching up to wipe at their eyes; which Allison catches a hold of.

 

“Just cry.” She smiles. “Just cry for once, Five. You don’t have to hold it all in.” Klaus nods at her words, tapping his fingers against the palm of Five’s hand- the one being gripped by Allison- and the shortest of the group forms a fist around Klaus’ thumb.

 

“I’m sorry.” They say, looking down at their lap. “I’m so sorry.”

 

Diego winces at this, tightening his grip on Five’s hand- pulling them in for a hug.

 

“Please don’t say that. You don’t need to apologise. You’ve been through a lot, it’s okay to have an off night.”

 

“I have an off night every night.” Five laughs into his chest, and their own grip tightens with both hands.

 

“That just means we get to hug our favourite sibling every night!” Klaus giggles, shaking his hand and consequently Five’s- which gets a small, humoured chuckle out of everyone present.

 

“I thought Ben was your favourite.” Allison laughs back, eyes bright. Klaus rolls his eyes, looking an empty space beside him up and down- before closing his eyes.

 

“Okay, second favourite.”

 

Five hides their face into Diego’s neck, who doesn’t say anything about the smile he feels against his skin. Instead, he lightly slaps his palm against Five’s back- letting go off them completely after a few more seconds. The shorter whines at the loss of contact, but doesn’t say anything.

 

“You’re gonna get some sleep now.” Diego holds up a hand to their face, when they try and protest. “How long have you been awake?”

 

Five pouts, before rolling their eyes and muttering small syllables.

 

“Sorry, what was that?” he asks.

 

“Six days.” they repeat, which earns a slightly harsher smack on their back from Allison.

 

“Six?! Five, you are not indestructible.” she complains, voice a higher octave than it was before. Vanya fidgets on the corner of the bed, before standing up abruptly and walking over in front of Five- effectively pushing Diego out the way with a nudge.

 

“Do you think you could sleep?” she asks, pushing a strand of loose brown hair behind her ear. Five looks down, not responding in any way. “Do you think you could try?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Okay. Well, just try. You know you can wake any of us up if you need to.” she supplies, ruffling their hair with a slender hand. “Goodnight, Five.” she whispers, retreating back out of the room.

 

After a few more seconds of silence, Allison lifts up the creased covers laying still on the bottom of the bed- ushering Five under them.

 

“Do you need anything?” She asks, but Five stays silent; picking at their nails with new found interest.

 

“Dolores.” they whisper, looking up at the mannequin bust displayed on the top of the dresser. Klaus walks over to her, picking her up and placing her in Five’s patient and waiting arms. They smile up at him, showing their appreciation in a hushed tone.

 

The three of them walk over to the door frame listlessly, turning to look at them one more time. Five puts up a middle finger at the trio, before closing their eyes. Allison chuckles, turning off the light.

 

Diego sighs, closing the door inch by inch whilst watching his younger-yet-older sibling breathe heavily into the mannequin’s neck.

 

“I’ve never seen anything so fucked up in my life.” Klaus helpfully whispers from beside him, and even though the noise didn’t even make Five stir- Allison still hissed at him to shut up.

 

It’s unspoken, but they all agree.

**Author's Note:**

> uhh thanks for reading legends
> 
> stan enby five


End file.
